


The One in which Hermione Granger Lives her Best Life

by kae24



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Non-Binary Neville, Other, Trans Hermione Granger
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24928405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kae24/pseuds/kae24
Summary: Hermes Granger knew his body was not correct, but with very conservative parents how could he be anything but the perfect son they wanted? This fic spans the time from when Hermione is six up until at least the first year at Hogwarts, where Hermes transitions to becoming the Hermione Granger we all know and love.Note: I wrote this because of the insensitive and horrendous remarks/essay by J.K. Rowling. This is my way to show that trans men are real men, trans women are real women; and it's also ok to be gay, non-binary, etc...
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46





	1. Happy Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: JK Rowling is GRRRRR to me now. I am so upset with her, and I'm taking those feelings and writing a fic where Hermione is a trans women. Initially I wanted to have one of the canon-characters come out as trans and start transitioning at Hogwarts. Then I was talking to some of my trans and non-binary friends and they suggested just to simply make a canon character trans. I am choosing to do a bit of a combination; where Hermione once she's at Hogwarts will be an out and proud trans woman, and yet we still get to see what it's like for her in her AMAB life prior to Hogwarts.  
> A/N: I will be using boy pronouns and the name Hermes until they are actually talking to another person about being trans, and then I'll be using girl pronouns.  
> A/N: I am not trans myself, but am a teacher who has taught many trans students (MTF and FTM and also some non-binary), and has trans friends, and have researched a lot about what it means to be trans. If I get certain things wrong, please don't criticize me, but educate me. I am an ally and want it to be known that trans men and trans women are real men and real women.  
> Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling - I'm not a sh*t head.

**Chapter One: Birthday Party**  
"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Hermes! Happy birthday to you!" everyone shouted.

Hermes counts silently in his head to three, breathes out, and then finally wishes and blows out the candles. Silently wishing that he could be free to be a girl, to look and act like a girl. 

Hermes's dad cuts through the big confectionery 6 on the cake and starts to hand out slices. Hermes and his family gather around, and eat the cake. This party was only with his parents, and some aunts, uncles, and cousins. Hermes was only six, and still he didn't really have any friends at school to invite. They all thought he was weird and in turn he spent most of his free time sitting close to the school's entrance instead of running around the playground. His teacher wouldn't let him bring a book out to the playground; so unfortunately he couldn't even do what he had started to fall in love with. He loved to read, and was getting very good at reading the books in his classroom. Hermes sighed to himself and wished he didn't have to open his presents. His family always got him toys that were so uninteresting. He hoped that he'd get at least one or two books this year, as his teachers have been sending home reports that his reading skills were one of the top in his class. 

After cake, was presents time, and just as Hermes had predicted. His aunt and uncle on his mother's side got him some GI Joe figurines and a small toy gun. His aunt and uncle on his father's side got him a fire truck that he could actually sit in and ride around in. His other aunt on his father's side got him some button down polo shirts, that were in his schools colors. His parents got him some more clothing that he knew would feel scratchy and not like on his body. He did get one book from his parents, "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" that looked interesting. After a polite thank you to everyone who came, Hermes went back into the house and to his room. Hermes floped down on his bed and started to cry. After a good ten minutes of crying he gets up and locks his door; he then goes to his closet, where there's a floor length mirror. He undresses himself and scowls. First he puts his hand over his penis and looks in the mirror, smiling. 

"Stupid penis," Hermes says softly to himself while looking down. 

He starts to get very angry again and with his emotions heightened he sees out of the corner of his eye something happen to his GI Joe figurine that he just got as a present. There's some swirling lights that surround it and several seconds later GI Joe becomes a woman figure, and instead of a gun that the GI Joe was holding the now woman figurine is holding a necklace. Little did Hermes know, but this was his first accidental magic - and somewhere in Hogwarts a magical quill was writing down his information; name, date of birth, parents, and address. The book that this was entering in is a magical book that will change and update as circumstances arose, such as if the young wizard or witch moves residences. 

"Wow! How'd that happen?" Hermes asked quietly. "I love it now. I wish something could happen to the firetruck thing I got, but that's probably too big to change."

Still being naked, and trying to tuck his penis he starts playing with his new figurine - which Hermes names Alicia. He knew since the party was around dinner time that his parents wouldn't disturb him for the rest of the night. His parents still cook food for him, but other than that, for the past six months he's generally been on his own and had to fulfill his time by himself. Occasionally Hermes would spend time watching tv with his parents, but he didn't really like to be around them just as much as his parents didn't want to be around him. 

He already knew that he was an unplanned pregnancy but with his parents' religion they didn't have an abortion. Afterwards, however he knew his mom got a hysterectomy - although he couldn't quite pronounce the word, he knew what it meant. He'd always be an only child - a somewhat unwanted child. Because of this, he always tried to get everything correct on his first try at school, despite him only being in kindergarten. He was one of the oldest in his class, since his birthday was September 19th, and the cut off for first year at kindergarten was that he had to be 5 on or before September 1st. He also always rushed to finish the few chores his parents assigned him and tried to make his bed with crisp lines in his bedsheets and always have a clean room. 

Hermes looked at the clock and realized it was already 8pm, with school the next day he had to get some sleep. After taking a quiet trip to the bathroom, he got back into bed naked, with his arm around Alicia. Smiling to himself he drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter Two: Trying On Clothes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Again, I will be using boy pronouns and the name Hermes until they are actually talking to another person about being trans, and then I'll be using girl pronouns. Right now it's all internal and doesn't even know what's truly happening and if it has a name or ok to be.

Chapter Two: Trying On Clothes

"Hermes, be good for your babysitter, we won't be back until tomorrow morning," Hermes's mother said extremely sternly.

"Yes, be good," his father demanded. 

Rachel, Hermes's babysitter looked at the interaction with a very puzzled face, but managed to hide it with a smile before Dr and Dr Granger saw her puzzlement. Hermes had never been anything but a good kid when she's babysat the past two times. "Don't worry Doctors, Hermes and I will have a good time together," said Rachel. 

Once Hermes's parents left, he looked at Rachel "Now what?" Hermes asked.

"Well it's 5:30, do you want to help me make dinner?" Rachel asked him. 

"That sounds fun, sure," Hermes said.

Rachel prodded him towards the kitchen. She started looking in the fridge and in the cabinets for ideas. "Have you had a chicken burrito?" Rachel asked Hermes. Hermes shook his head, and Rachel smiled. "Oh it's wonderful, come help me. Can you get the chicken, cheese, salsa, and bar-b-que sauce from the fridge?"

Hermes got the required ingredients, while Rachel got two bowls, a cutting board, a knife, a cooking pan, and avocado. Rachel lifted Hermes up on the kitchen stool, and asked him to shred the cheddar cheese into the bowl. While Hermes was doing this, Rachel pat dried the chicken and diced it on the cutting board. Pouring a liberal amount of bar-b-que sauce in a second bowl, and dropped the chicken in there. Rachel used a spoon to make sure the chicken got covered all over in the sauce, and left it for a few minutes to marinate. 

"Great job Hermes," Rachel said when Hermes said he was done. "Can you do a little more, we need enough cheese for both of us?"

"Yes!" Hermes exclaimed. 

This was fun for him, he had never cooked before and he was used to having very basic dishes with his parents. Mostly spaghetti, sometimes pizza sometimes chicken nuggets. No one had thought that he would want some more 'grown-up' food. It was also fun to actually spend time with someone who, despite getting paid to be there, seemed to genuinely want to spend time with him. After grating some more cheese, Rachel went over to the stove and started cooking the chicken. Hermes turned around on the stool to watch her cook. 

"Can I do anything else?" Hermes asked.

"Why yes you can, did you see the tortillas on the other counter? Can you reach those? If not I'll grab them when the chicken is done cooking, which should be in about eight minutes," Rachel said. 

Hermes jumped down to the ground and went to the counter she mentioned. He stood on tiptoes and grabbed the tortilla packet. "I did it!" Hermes explained. 

"High five little man!" Rachel said and lowered one of her hands just a little so that Hermes could reach and slap her hand with his. 

Hermes giggled and then brought the tortillas over to where the rest of the ingredients were. He climbed back onto his stool and continued to watch Rachel cook. For some reason he didn't mind it when Rachel called him 'little man'. Maybe because her tone was so friendly? Maybe he's not a girl but just likes girly things as opposed to guy things? Right now he just was going to have fun with Rachel. A few minutes later the chicken was cooked, and Rachel helped him with creating the burrito and explained to him how to eat it. 

"YUM!" Hermes exclaimed after taking a bite.

"Glad you like it, little man. Now we have about two hours before you should go to bed, do you have anything you want to do?" Rachel asked.

"Can we play a board game?" Hermes asked. His parents never liked to play board games with him, and he honestly didn't know why they still bought him some. It wasn't like he had friends to play them with.

"Sure, why don't you pick one out, and set it up in the living room, while I clean up from dinner," Rachel suggested.

Hermes ran up to his room and looked over his board games. In the end he chose the Monopoly Junior game, as that looked the most interesting. He took his time coming down the stairs as he didn't want the box to go flying. He brought it to the living room and started setting it up. Hermes decided to be the dog, and hoped Rachel would be ok with that. A few minutes later, Rachel walked in to see what he picked out.

"Oh, Monopoly, that's a great game!" Rachel said. "Good choice."

"Can I be the doggy?" Hermes asked.

"Of course sweetie. How about I read the instructions real fast. I've played the original version, but not this version. Is that ok?" Rachel asked.

"Can you read them out loud too? This is my first time too," Hermes said. 

"Of course," Rachel said. After a few more minutes of Rachel reading the rules and them looking at the board to make sure it made sense to the, they started to play.

Hermes had a lot of fun playing the game. During the course of playing, Rachel would ask him some questions, as she was a bit curious on why he never had played this game before now. She had babysat for him in the past, well only twice, and each time was just a couple of hours in the afternoon where they'd go to the park and play; she had never taken care of him for dinner throughout the rest of the night. It became clearer to her that Hermes was pretty independent, and seemed to do a lot of things himself rather than his parents doing it with or for him. Rachel secretly hoped she could continue helping the Grangers take care of him, so she could foster his creativity and social skills. After about an hour, the game was finished and Hermes had won - which he loved and was very excited about. 

"All right, time to get ready for bed, can I help you?" Rachel asked.

"No, I'm good, good night. Thank you, tonight was fun," Hermes said.

"Good night?" Rachel questioned.

"Yes. Good night. I put myself to seep," Hermes responded.

"How about you get ready, and I can read you a bedtime story?" Rachel suggested. And seeing Hermes's eyes brighten up she knew it was the right response; even though she was going to do it regardless. A six year old should be tucked into bed. 

"I like that idea," Hermes said. Quickly giving her a hug he rushed to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Twenty minutes later, Hermes was ready and called out for Rachel to come up. When she entered his bedroom, she noticed that Hermes only had on a very long shirt that went past his knees. Mentally shrugging to herself she said that Hermes should get under the covers. Rachel saw that Hermes had even picked a book out and gave it to her before he got into bed. Smiling, Rachel proceeded to read "Goodnight Moon" to Hermes. When she reached the end, she got off the bed, and tucked the cover around Hermes. Giving him a quick kiss on the forehead, she said good night to him. Half way to the door, Hermes's voice stopped her.

"Tonight was so much fun, thank you Rachel. Please come back soon," Hermes said.

"I will. Good night. Remember I'm just down the hall in the guest bedroom, and you can wake me up if something happens in the middle of the night," Rachel said. 

Smiling to herself Rachel left the room after dimming the lights to just be a light glow. She crept back downstairs to clean up a bit, before she headed to the guest room for the night. Rachel got comfy under the covers and was reading her book for a good hour, and she was about to get to sleep when she heard a door open. Sitting straight up, Rachel waited for a minute, heard what could only be Hermes's footsteps, and also heard the door to the bathroom open. She snuggled back down under the covers and turned off the bedside table lamp. 

Hermes did have to go to the bathroom, but he also thought that Rachel would probably be asleep right now, as it was nearing midnight - and knowing his parents would be asleep he creeped into his parents bedroom and closed the door most of the way. This was his chance to explore what women's clothing actually felt like. He went to his parents' bed and turned on the lamp on one of the bedside tables. He opened his mother's closet and grinned. He figured he should start with a simple skirt and found a long flowy blue one to try on. He took off his sleep shirt and put the skirt on, followed by a blouse that he was able to reach. He went over to his mom's mirror and smiled. He spun around and the skirt flowed around him and he giggled. 

Rachel was trying to get to sleep, but couldn't turn her mind off. She also realized that she didn't hear Hermes's door open and close again, so got out of bed silently. She looked up and down the hallway and noticed that the door for Dr.Granger's was open a bit when she was sure it was closed earlier. She crept a bit closer and saw a bit of light from under the door. Rachel started to get curious now, and so made her way down the hallway. She carefully opened the door and saw Hermes in front of the mirror spinning around. She was very puzzled and stepped into the room more. She saw Hermes in a sunflower yellow dress and a wide brim straw hat. 

Hermes was having so much fun trying on his mother's clothes. He loved the way the material felt on his body and how it flowed as he walked and spun around. This was the third outfit he had tried on, and definitely liked the feel of this dress the best. He spun one more time around and gasped when he saw who was at the door. 

"Um, hi," Hermes said. 

"Hi sweetie, what are you doing up and out of bed?" Rachel asked coming over to kneel on the floor near Hermes.

"Tryin' on clothes," Hermes responded with his head down.

"And you couldn't do that if your parents were home, right?" Rachel questioned, even though she was pretty sure of the answer.

"Please don't tell my parents. I'll take it right off and go to bed, I promise," Hermes said very quickly and quietly.

"Well I think this can be our secret for now, but let's clean up your mother's clothes properly first. I'll turn around and why don't you change out of that dress," Rachel said. 

"Done," Hermes said about a minute later.

"Ok, now you hand me each outfit and I'll put it back in her closet." Once that was done, Rachel led Hermes back to his room and into his bed. "Hermes," Rachel started quietly. "Did it feel nice to wear your mother's clothing?"

"Yes. I felt free," Hermes said very fast and drew the covers over his head. 

Rachel pulled the covers off from his head. "Well that's ok, different fabrics work for different people."

"Can we just forget that you saw me?" Hermes asked.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Rachel asked. At Hermes's nod, she continued. "Ok, just know that I'm here if you need to talk to someone." 

Hermes smiled and whispered goodnight to Rachel; who then took her leave of his room for the second, and hopefully last time of the night.


	3. Chapter Three: TV Commercial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Again, I will be using boy pronouns and the name Hermes until they are actually talking to another person about being trans, and then I'll be using girl pronouns. Right now it's all internal and doesn't even know what's truly happening and if it has a name or ok to be.  
> A/N: I know Brookside, a popular UK soap had it's first openly gay character, Gordon Collins being outed in 1985 - I have been researching for about four hours and can't find out when in 1985 this episode happens; so I'm pretending it happened the week before this chapter takes place. If anyone actually knows when this episode takes place, I'd love to know!!!  
> A/N: there may be offensive language in this chapter that the Drs.Granger say. Please note that these are 100% the opposite of my personal beliefs. I put them in simply because it shows why Hermione can't come out to her parents about being trans.

**Chapter Three: TV Commercial**

An uncommon occurrence happened a few weeks after Rachel watched Hermes overnight. The three Grangers were watching tv after dinner. The premiere of a serial show, Oliver Twist, starring Eric Porter and Ben Rodska as Fagin and Oliver respectively, was starting tonight. Hermes was excited as his parents even let him have some popcorn to eat while watching, he wasn't usually allowed that type of snack food because his parents were both dentists. His mother and father sat on the couch, while Hermes sat in-between them on a pillow on the floor. The episode started off well, at the first commercial break - right before Oliver had to go before the Board, there was a commercial for the show called Brookside. Hermes knew his mother loved the show.

"Man that show has gone off the deep end. I'll never watch it again," Mrs. Granger said.

"What happened dear? You've been watching that show for years," responded Mr.Granger.

"Last episode they made one of the characters be gay. I don't want to watch trash that disparages what our Lord intended for us to do. Being gay or anything that is not a male or female relationship is disgusting," replied Mrs.Granger.

"Gay, lesbians, drag queens, trannys, and whatever else they're calling themselves these days should be executed. They don't deserve to live," said Mr.Granger.

"Agreed," said Mrs.Granger.

Hermes got really uncomfortable at hearing this, but knew that he couldn't leave the living room at this moment. Maybe he would yawn and go to bed after the next commercial break. He still didn't know exactly what was going on with him, hey he's only six. He did know that he could never be anything other than an upstanding, straight man to his parents. At the next commercial break, Hermes excused himself to get ready for bed.

When he got to his room, he shut the door and then flopped on the bed and started to silently cry. He didn't fully understand his feelings about himself but knew that nothing could come about it anyway. He fell asleep on top of his comforter, crying himself to sleep. That night he dreamt of himself, older, and with long hair and wearing a dress. Everyone was using her and she pronouns, although Hermes couldn't quite make out what his name would be when he finally could be the girl of his dreams.

Hermes woke up with a sad smile, and got ready to start another day at school. Hopefully he'll have a good day and it will distract him from his parents and his inner turmoil. When he got to school, an hour later, Hermes was excited to see that on the blackboard it said a phrase that included reading. He couldn't quite read the other part of the phrase, but Hermes loved it whenever there was reading involved in school. Hermes, even at four, loved to read. As someone whose parents didn't too much with him, he forced himself to learn to read early on, so that he could have something to do on his own as well playing with toys.

The phrase that Hermes couldn't quite read was "Reading Circle". And this was scheduled right after the mid-morning snack. Once it came, the students all gathered in a circle on the rug, with Hermes's teacher Ms.Levy on a chair. She was planning on reading "Frog and Toad Are Friends". Hermes was excited, they had read one of the stories in this book earlier in the year, this time Ms.Levy read the "The Letter" story inside of this book. Hermes had a good day at school, and managed to forget about what he heard his parents talking about last night, and was able to enjoy just being a kid.


	4. Chapter Four: Figuring Somethings Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hermione, still known as Hermes

**Chapter Four: Figuring Somethings Out**

"Hermes don't climb that high," yelled Mrs.Atwood, a teacher and rushed over to baseball backstop.

"The frisbee landed up here, I'm going to get it," Hermes yelled down as he continued to climb.

"Hermes, get down here now," shouted Mrs.Atwood.

"I'm almost there, just a few more climbs, and then I'll be able to…ahhhh," Hermes screamed as he lost his footing and started to fall.

Mrs.Atwood screamed, and tried to place herself under him to catch him, but she didn't get there in time, and Hermes fell the almost twenty feet to the ground. Mrs.Atwood immediately knelt down next to Hermes, who was unconscious. She knew not to move Hermes, and told a child, who was nearby, to run and tell a teacher to call for an ambulance. Mrs.Atwood tried to assure other students who were near by that Hermes would be fine, and to give him some space - not to crowd around watching. Of course, since they were eight and nine years old, they only moved back a few feet. None of them were really friends with Hermes, but they also were very curious on what would happen with him. About ten minutes later, Mr.Morris came out of the school, and helped get the students back inside, before coming back over to Mrs.Atwood and Hermes.

"The ambulance should be here soon," Mr.Morris said.

"We should call his parents," Mrs.Atwood said.

"I will, once we know which hospital the ambulance will take him to, you should ride with him," Mr.Morris said.

A few minutes later they could hear the sirens of the ambulance, and so Mr.Morris went to go show them the way to where Hermes lay, still unconscious. Several minutes later, Hermes and Mrs.Atwood were in the ambulance, and Mr.Norris went inside to call his parents. The paramedics were able to wake Hermes up, but told him to lie still and try not to speak. Hermes looked on in worry, and Mrs.Atwood held his hand.

"It will be ok Hermes, you had a nasty fall, and we're taking you to the hospital. Mr.Norris is calling your family," Mrs.Atwood said kindly.

Hermes looked more worried then, and the paramedics tried to reassure him. "You'll be ok son, we'll take good care of you. We just need to run a few x-rays to make sure you're fine," one of the paramedics said.

Ten minutes later they were at the hospital. Hermes was whisked to get some xrays done. The doctors asked Mrs.Atwood if the family had been called, and she told them that they were, by her colleague - but wasn't sure how long they would take to get here, and that both of his parents were dentists.

"Do you know what the name of their practice is, or the business phone number?" asked Doctor Mielke.

"No, sorry - not off hand, just in his records, which are at school," replied Mrs.Atwood.

"Ok thanks, it's not quite protocol, but as he's so young, we'll allow you to stay with him until his parents get here," replied the Doctor. "He should be back soon, and we'll bring him up to this room," he continued and brought Mrs.Atwood to a hospital room to wait.

Hermes was a bit afraid, and looking around as they wheeled him to get x-rays. Nurse Fuss tried to reassure him, and held his hand.

Hermes got enough courage to ask: "will the x-ray finally show that I'm really a girl?"

Nurse Fuss was alone with Hermes at this point, as she was getting him ready. She breathed in and out for a few seconds, and stopped what she was doing. "Do you feel like you're a girl?" she asked.

Hermes nodded, feeling a bit more sure of himself - despite the situation he's in and that he was in pain from the fall. "I've never felt like a boy. I hate boy toys, and clothes feel scratchy. I've sneaked into my mom's closet and worn her dresses and skirts, and I love the way they feel. I would really love not to have a penis, it's so weird and ugly and I hate it," Hermes said quickly, afraid that he spoke too much.

"Well sweetie, let's take some x-rays and then I can explain a few things to you, maybe help with what you're feeling," Nurse Fuss said.

"Ok!" Hermes exclaimed. "But don't tell my parents, ok? They are very religious and would disown me."

"My secret, patient-nurse secret," Nurse Fuss said and got him finished to be ready for the x-rays. "Now I have to just step out of the room, to activate the x-ray, but I'll be back in here in a couple of minutes. Try and stay as still as possible, ok?".

Nurse Fuss saw his nod, and quickly left the room. She knew she had to handle this just right, as it seemed like this kid had no one to confide in, and somehow trusted her even with just meeting her. As a nurse, she knows about some people being transgender, but she had never met someone who came out to her or was even so young to even articulate it. All the medical notes she'd read were people in their twenties or thirties who were finally able to become their true-selves. She knew that she had to be careful with what she told him, she didn't know their parents but knew they felt uncomfortable sharing this with them. When the x-rays were done, Nurse Fuss came back in the room.

"Done?" asked Hermes.

"Yes, here you let me help you down," Nurse Fuss helped them into the wheelchair. Hermes looked up at her in askance. "Did you know that there are many people who don't feel like their in the right body?"

"I'm not alone in feeling this?" Hermes asked in wonder.

"No, sweetie, you're not. I personally haven't met anyone, that I know of, but there are definitely others. It's called being transgender. Where you feel like you are in the wrong body and feel like you should have been born in the gender that you weren't identified at birth. You feel like a girl, you said. Would you like me to use she/her/hers pronouns for you?" Nurse Fuss said.

"Yes please!" Hermes said excitedly. "When we're alone, at least," she continued. [A/N: from now on I will use she when Hermes is talking to herself or with others, although people who don't know will still be using he/him/his pronouns when talking directly. Until she comes up with the name (Hermione) to use, I will continue to call her Hermes, however]

"Done, and now we need to figure out if a different name would fit you best. Hermes is a bit of a guy name, but you could also keep it if you still like it," Nurse Fuss said.

"I can change my name?" Hermes said.

"Sure, can hun," Nurse Fuss said. "Now we have to go back to your room and wait for your parents to come so we can discuss the results with them. Don't worry, I won't tell any other adult about this conversation. If I can, I'll try to find some pamphlets for you about being transgender and try and find a way to get them to you without anyone seeing."

"Thank you! Can I come see you at some other point, you're really the only one I've said so much to. When I was four, my baby-sitter found me in my mom's clothes, but she moved away and also I think she thought I was just being a little kid," Hermes said.

"We can definitely find a way, sure. I'm not actually usually at this hospital, but they needed more nurses this week. I'm actually a nurse at Young Pediatrics that's about fifteen minutes away," Nurse Fuss said.

"I think I go there for my yearly appointment!" Hermes said excitedly.

"What's your last name? I'll make sure I'm around when and if you come in again," Nurse Fuss asked.

"Granger. My parents are two dentists, Monica and Wendell," she said.

"Well that helps me, thanks," Nurse Fuss. "My first name is Shannon, if you'd like to use it when we're by ourselves. You might find it easier to talk to me this way."

"Thank you," Hermes said.

Nurse Fuss wheeled Hermes into his hospital room, to find that her parents had made it to the hospital. She sighed knowing she was back to being called a boy. Monica and Wendell hugged Hermes close.

"Are you ok sweetie?" Monica asked.

"Better than I was at school. They gave me some meds to help the pain," Hermes said.

"The doctor should be in shortly to talk about Hermes's x-rays," Nurse Fuss said, trying to at least only use her name, rather than mis-pronouning the kid.

"Thank you for taking care of him," Wendell said.

Shannon Fuss could only politely nod and take her leave of the room. As she did, she winked at Hermes. Hermes nodded at Shannon and smiled. Her parents were hugging her, making sure she was ok and asking her why she thought to climb the baseball backstop. Hermes promised them not to do it again. A short while later, the Doctor had come in.

"Hello, Granger family," Doctor Milrod said. "Hermes, are you feeling a bit better?"

"Yes ma'am. The tylenol helped," Hermes responded.

"Good. So Doctor and Doctor Granger, I have the result from the x-rays. It seems like Hermes fell on his pelvis. Luckily it's not broken; but he will have trouble sitting up for the next few weeks. I encourage him to lie down whenever possible, and we have a seat cushion to give him that he should use whenever he has to sit down. He should bring it to school every day. If Hermes feels uncomfortable or in pain, we're prescribing him 240mg of Tylenol every 4-6 hours as needed. You should tell his school this. He should see his primary doctor in two weeks just to see how he's healing, but he probably won't need another x-ray," Doctor Milrod said.

"Thank you Doctor," Monica Granger said. "We'll make sure to tell the school and set up an appointment with his primary doctor."

"What type of seat cushion should we get?" Wendell Granger asked.

"Nurse Fuss will come back in with a cushion for Hermes to use as well as discharge papers. She'll come back in about ten minutes. Any other questions?" Doctor Milrod asked

"No Doctor, thank you," Monica and Wendell said.

"Thank you Doctor," Hermes said and she looked at the Doctor with a smile. Hermes knowing that Nurse Fuss would come back into the room made her happy. Hopefully she can get me those pamphlets she told me about, Hermes thought to herself.

"No problem. I hope you have a good rest of your day," Doctor Milrod said and then left the room.

"Well that wasn't so bad. You got lucky Hermes," Monica said.

"Yes Mom," Hermes said and looked down. She knew that she wasn't being the perfect boy that her mom wanted.

Doctors Granger sat in silence while Hermes lied on the bed in the room. At almost exactly ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Monica said, and then went over to the bed to hug Hermes.

Hermes rolled her eyes, of course her mom would act like the perfect mother in front of doctors and nurses.

Nurse Fuss came in carrying a bag of things for Hermes and her family. In it was the seat cushion, with the pamphlet she told Hermes about folded up (so no transgender writing could be seen) inside a book, as well as a few other things. She also had some tylenol in her hand which she gave to Hermes's parents. "Hello Doctors Granger," Nurse Fuss started. "Here is some Tylenol that we've prescribed for Hermes so that you can keep some at home and give some to Hermes's school. This bag has the seat cushion that Doctor Milrod told you about as well as some reading material for Hermes so they won't get bored while resting. We have a lot of books and such that we give to all children who are asked to stay lying down for longer periods of time. Hermes I encourage you to read "Matilda" by Roald Dahl first. It just came out this year, and many kids have enjoyed it," Nurse Fuss said.

"Thank you ma'am," Hermes said, getting the hint and smiled at her.

"Thank you Nurse. May we take our son home now?" Monica asked.

"Yes you may take Hermes home. Just sign some of this paperwork at the top; the two on the bottom are for you, and you can leave the ones you've signed at the desk that you'll pass as you leave the hospital," Nurse Fuss said.

"Thank you," Wendell said, and proceeded to sign the forms and gesture his family out.


	5. Chapter Five: Research and Doctor's Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know it's been a while, real life has been crazy y'all! Anyway, I thought you all deserved a new chapter. I don't know exactly what literature is available during this time period, so I'm taking creative liberty with what Hermione finds at the library!
> 
> A/N: This is not realistic, no one in the UK can get therapy under the age of 16 without parental consent, but this is a work of fiction. I'm taking creative license on how I want Hermione to be treated. If you don't like it, don't read it. I'm doing this my own creative outlet, not for money. It doesn't have to be realistic. I mean the whole wizarding world isn't realistic.

** Chapter Five: Research and Doctor's Visit **

"Hermes, both of us got called in for an emergency dental surgery. Will you be ok at home for a while on your own?" Monica called up the stairs. 

"How long will you be?" Hermes asked her mom. As she came half way down the stairwell. Her parents had taken her out of school and took some vacation days to prove that they were good parents to society, while she recovered. 

"Your dad got called in to do two different surgeries today, so he'll be away probably until 6pm with everything he'll need to do in-between. I just have one, but it's one of the longer surgeries I've had to do, so I will probably be gone until 1 or 2pm. It's 7am right now, will you be ok? I can leave you some money for you to get some lunch, just don't go too far away from the house for it. There's cereal in the pantry for you to make breakfast," Monica said.

"That's fine, my teachers gave me a lot of work to do when you went in the day after the accident and requested that I take the rest of the week to recover at home," Hermes said. 

Hermes knew if she played up the dutiful parent angle, she might actually have time to herself without her parents acting like good parents and checking in on her every hour. She was sick of it, it was not normal, and she just wanted to go back to normal, where her parents didn't care too much about what she did. 

"Ok, I won't be able to call to check in with you, but if something happens call our office, someone will get myself or your dad," Monica said.

"Can I go to the library? It's not too close, but not far away either, I can walk there," Hermes asked. Thinking to herself that she could finally read the pamphlet that Nurse Fuss gave her as well as doing some research.

"I think that would be ok, you are nine years old, and it's only ten blocks away. Just be careful. Don't talk to people in the street," Monica said.

"Thanks," Hermes said. 

Once Hermes was sure that her mom had left the house and wasn't coming back, she made some breakfast for herself. She knew that the library opened at 8, so she didn't have too much time that she had to figure out something to do in the house. She planned to stay most of the day in the library. After she had breakfast, she went upstairs and got dressed in clothes that seemed more feminine to her. She put on a pink polo shirt, and snuck into her parents' bedroom and took one of her mom's underwear to wear; she knew her mom wouldn't miss it, and she could slip it in the family's laundry basket. Just wearing a woman's underwear made her feel happy. Unfortunately, she only had trousers to wear, but that was ok. She grabbed her backpack - put her seat cushion in it, as well as Nurse Fuss's pamphlet, the money her mother left her, and some pens, pencils, and paper. 

Hermes grabbed the keys to the house from the shelf by the door, and let her self out, locking the door behind her. She walked the ten blocks swiftly and sighed with relief when she got to the doors of the library. She had been here many times with her parents, who told her to stay put for hours until they retrieved her after they had finished errands; but she had never walked to it alone. She walked in and took a left, into the non-fiction room. Even though she was only nine, she knew how the library was structured. She didn't quite know exactly where books might be that would be helpful to her, so instead she sat at a table and took out the pamphlet that Nurse Fuss had given her, as a starting point. 

Thirty minutes later, Hermes was astounded. There was so much information in this packet, that someone who was assigned at birth as a boy could actually be a girl, and someone who was assigned at birth as a girl could actually be a boy. There were many affidavits from actual people that told their story about how they realized they were trans. Bits and pieces of many of their stories spoke to Hermes and she smiled. 

She was definitely a she, she could feel it. There was mention about these people that they chose to go by new names, and the names that they were given at birth were then called 'dead name'. Hermes liked the idea of that, she would re-birth, with new pronouns, and a new name. At the back of the pamphlet there was a section titled 'Resources to Find More Information' that made Hermes smile even more. She hoped that the library would have some of these titles. 

After seeing a title called "Trans Rights: Legal and Medical Rights Allowed for Trans People" on the library shelf, she knew she was in the right section of the library and dug in. She found resources and terminology such as having a deadname, what being trans is, a whole history of pronoun use, and much more. One thing that really interested her was puberty blockers and possible surgery, that kind of looked scary but also, she hated her penis and wanted it gone. She knew that she had a follow up appointment the next day, and hoped to be able to meet up with Nurse Fuss to be able to ask her more questions. 

She was also extremely interested in figuring out what name that she felt was her. Hermes thought to herself that she still loved the meaning behind the name Hermes, and knew she had mythological books at home, so that could wait. She was fascinated by the idea of being true to herself, at least internally. Hermes knew she wouldn’t be able to be out in the wider sense, definitely not to her parents. And this did seem like something that wasn’t often talked about. Never did she ever hear anyone talk about gender other than penis equals boy and vagina equals girl. 

Hermes spent a total of five hours at the library, not stopping for anything, when she realized she was hungry. She decided to end her research for the day, and left the library after thanking the librarian. She walked out and found a diner down the street, where she ordered a take out order of fish and chips. While walking home and eating her lunch, Hermes smiled to herself for what seemed like the first time in a while. 

“Hi Hermes, had a good day?” Monica asked Hermes, as she had actually gotten home before Hermes had come back.

“Hi mom, yes I did. I’ll be in my room,” Hermes said. 

“Ok Hermes. Dinner will be at 7, come down promptly,” Monica said.

“Yes ma’am,” Hermes responded and then went to her room. 

Hermes spent the rest of the night, dinner not included, researching Greek and Roman mythology from the books she had in her room. Hermes looked to see what her deadname meant, and her book told her the name means Interpreter and that Hermes was a Greek god associated with speed and good luck. At 7pm she quickly went down and ate, and went back to her room – being silent while in her parents’ presence. Her parents only talked to remind her about her follow up appointment tomorrow. Hermes sped read all three books that she had about both Greek and Roman mythology. Finally, she decided on her real name. It would be Hermione. Hermione meant well born or stone. And that’s what she wanted to be, rock solid stone with her new life. Hermione in Greek mythology was the daughter of King Menelaus of Sparta and Helen of Troy.

Hermione felt right. She didn’t really like that it was just the feminine form of Hermes, as she didn’t really like to have any reminder of her deadname. But she could live with it, and also, she could maybe ignore her parents misgendering her and not calling her by her name a bit easier if the beginning of both sounded the same. Hermes went to bed happy. 

Hermione was so excited the next day, in hopes of seeing Nurse Fuss. The appointment was in the morning, and depending on what happened, she’d either be going into school late, or her parents would drop her off at home. Her parents had her eat breakfast and then head to the car. The car ride was silent. When they got to the doctor’s office, Monica checked them in.

“Hermes Granger,” announced Nurse Fuss fifteen minutes later. 

Hermione looked up and had smiled a bit at seeing the nice nurse, she hoped the nurse could see her smile. The nurse took Monica and Hermes to a patient room, Wendell would wait for them in the waiting room. 

“Ma’am, I need to take some measurements of Hermes here. Do you mind if you stay here for that?” Nurse Fuss asked.

“Yes that’s fine. Hermes be good and do what the nurse asks,” Monica answers.

Nurse Fuss led him away into another area that had a scale and a height chart. They quickly got the necessary stuff over with. “How are you hun?” Nurse Fuss asked.

“Good ma’am. I went to the library and looked at the pamphlet you gave me as well as lots of other books!” Hermione exclaimed.

“That’s great, what do you think?” Nurse Fuss asked.

“I’m definitely a girl. I want my real name to be Hermione, it means stone and is the daughter of Helen of Troy,” Hermione rushed out.

“Well hello Hermione, glad to meet you,” Nurse Fuss said.

“I love it!” Hermione smiled.

“Did you learn anything else?” Nurse Fuss asked.

“There’s things called puberty blockers, what would I need to do to get them?” Hermione asked.

“Well I’m not completely sure of the process, but after meeting you a few days ago, I did some research myself, want to know what I found?” Nurse Fuss asked. At Hermione’s nod she continued. “I found a list of therapists that specialize in treating trans people. I think, there’s one that’s near your home. Here’s her contact info.” Nurse Fuss passed along a note written with the phone number and address of the office.

“Any idea how I can convince my parents?” Hermione asked.

“Well, how do you get to school and back home?” Nurse Fuss.

“I’m dropped off by my parents and then I walk the five blocks home. Usually my parents aren’t home for hours! Oh, I could do it then. Oh wow, thanks!” Hermione grinned. 

“On the other side of that note is my home phone number, in case you need someone friendly to talk to,” Nurse Fuss said.

“Thank you!” Hermione said and folded and put the note in her pants pocket. 

“All right Hermione, we should get you back to where your mom is before she notices how long we’ve been,” Nurse Fuss said.

“She won’t notice, but ok. Thank you Nurse for all of this,” Hermione said before she gave the nurse a quick hug and then acted sheepish.

“Hermione, you’re welcome,” Nurse Fuss calmly said.

Hermione was led back to wait with her mom in the patient’s room. The rest of the doctor’s visit was pretty routine. When Hermione’s doctor came in he asked her how she was feeling, and if she had tried sitting without the cushion. She shook her head no, and the doctor asked her to try it out. Hermione was still hurting, but it wasn’t as painful as she thought. 

“Good, you’re healing nicely on your own Hermes. Continue to use that cushion until you can sit without it for 30 minutes of more, but don’t push yourself. You can use that cushion as much as you want or need. I’d like to see you in a month, and maybe take another set of xrays then, but although it will be a process you’re healing well. Mom, don’t feel afraid to give him Tylenol if he needs it,” Hermione’s doctor, Dr.. said. 

“Thank you Doctor. We’ve kept Hermes home the past two days to help recover, do you think he could go back today, or since it’s Friday just wait until Monday?” Monica asked.

“Well, Hermes what do you think you’re up to?” the Doctor asked Hermione.

“Well it is already noon, I’ve already missed half a day, so it might be better and less disruptive if we just wait until Monday,” Hermione said. 

“Dr.Granger, it seems like you have a very smart son. At his age, I think he’s correct – if he were to come back to the classroom in the middle of the day after being home for two days, it might be more disruptive than if he just waits until Monday,” the Doctor said.

“All right come along Hermes. Let’s set up an appointment for a month from now, and we’ll go home,” Monica smiled. “Thank you, Doctor.”

Hermione knew that meant she really was going to be able to stay home by herself and could call the office that Nurse Fuss gave her. Once they got in the car, her mom confirmed what she had thought. After a quick goodbye to tell Hermione that she and her dad would be home at 7, she drove back to the office. 

Hermione sighed and made herself some lunch, as she was hungry and had been nervous as she didn’t know if Nurse Fuss would have been able to be available during her appointment so hadn’t had breakfast. She made a quick peanut butter and banana sandwich and went up to her room with a skip to her step. She settled down on her bed with a book and read as she slowly ate lunch. Once she finished, she took the note out of her pocket and stared at the phone number of the therapist’s phone number. Finally, she got the courage up to grab the phone handset and dialed the number.

“Hello, Dr.Coben’s office, how can I help you?” said the receptionist.

“Hello, I got your number from a nurse, who said that Dr.Coben specializes in helping with trans people?” Hermione asked.

“Yes, she does hun, how old are you though?” the receptionist asked.

“I’m nine, but my family are, I think the word transphobic as well as homophobic and won’t understand me,” Hermione said.

“Is there any adult that confirm that this is a good thing for you?” the receptionist asked.

“Nurse Fuss gave me your number, can I give you hers? And you can talk to her?” Hermione asked.

“Sure, what is it hun, and what’s your name?” the receptionist asked.

“My deadname is Hermes Granger, my true name is Hermione Granger and I use she/her pronouns,” Hermione declared.

“Well you certainly seem to have done some research Hermione; is there a number I can call you back on?” the receptionist asked.

“None that is secure, can I just maybe call back in a week?” Hermione asked. “That should be enough time to get in touch with Nurse Fuss.”

“Sounds like an ok way to do it. Let’s say you are ok to start, are there specific days and times that work for you, that way when we next speak we can get right to creating an appointment?” the receptionist asked.

“Afternoons between 3:30 and 5:30pm would work best. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are even better, but any weekday afternoon would be ok,” Hermione replied.

“Ok, well call this number back in a week Hermione. Have a good day,” the receptionist said and then hung up the phone.

Hermione started to get a bit nervous – she really wanted to proceed in her transition as soon as possible. She hoped that Nurse Fuss would be enough to get the actual appointment. Hermione decided to the rest of the homework that her school had sent home so she would be able to turn in everything when she went back to school on Monday. There were a couple of things that she was a bit confused about, but when she went back to some of her textbooks things made more sense. 

After a few hours, she had finished all of her work and checked everything over to make sure she didn’t miss anything. It was only 2pm, five hours before her parents would come home.


End file.
